Lando Norris and McLaren were the strong favourites for pole position heading into qualifying in Melbourne while Lewis Hamilton was qualifying in Formula 1 for the first time as a Ferrari driver
The enormous roars that deafened Albert Park were all too brief as far as the locals were concerned.
As Oscar Piastri shot to the top of the timesheets by almost half-a-second at the end of qualifying for the Australian Grand Prix, the Melbourne native sent his compatriots wild. And then Lando Norris knocked him off his perch just seconds later.
The Brit is the title favourite heading into this new Formula 1 season and started as he means to go on with a stunning lap to make sure he starts Sunday’s race from the very front. McLaren will be delighted with the front row lockout while Max Verstappen knew that third place was probably the best he could hope for.
There was less joy for Lewis Hamilton who endured a spin in Q2 and, though he made it into the top 10, it didn’t get much better. He qualified down in eighth place, one place behind team-mate Charles Leclerc, in an underwhelming start to his Ferrari career.
Oliver Bearman was already having a rotten weekend in Melbourne after a hefty crash in first practice which saw him unable to take part in the second session, and also caused gearbox and engine damage. It got worst seconds into qualifying when, as he headed out on track for his out lap, he reported that he couldn’t change into fourth gear.
He returned to the garage for his Haas engineers to get to work on the problem, but it was in vain. They couldn’t rectify the issue in time and Brit Bearman faces starting the race from the very back of the grid as he was unable to set a time in the session.
And his Formula 2 team-mate from last year was also left in the bottom five as Mercedes suffered a shock Q1 exit. Kimi Antonelli didn’t get the start to life as an F1 driver he wanted as a problem with the ride height of his car cost him performance and meant he could qualify only 16th.
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Liam Lawson was another to suffer a Q1 exit, setting a time good enough only for two grid slots below Antonelli having missed final practice altogether with an engine problem. His final flying lap attempt was looking good until he lost control of his Red Bull in the final sector and, at the penultimate corner, went wide and onto the grass.
Hamilton had a scary moment in Q2 when he lost the rear of his Ferrari while on a flying lap and span around. But he came to a stop harmlessly on the track and was able to get going again – he made it into the top 10 safely despite that incident.
But it didn’t get much better from there. Hamilton was able to qualify only eighth fastest, one place behind team-mate Leclerc, as Ferrari were left with a team result which they will desperately hope is not a sign of things to come this season.
The star of qualifying was undoubtedly Yuki Tsunoda, who was overlooked for the Red Bull seat given to Lawson for this season. He responded to that snub perfectly by driving the sister team Racing Bulls car to fifth on the grid, behind only the McLarens, Verstappen and George Russell.
Williams also made good on their pre-season promise by getting both their cars into Q3. Carlos Sainz is set to start Sunday’s race in 10th place but it was his new team-mate Alex Albon who led the team’s result by qualifying sixth, ahead of both Ferraris, with ninth-placed Pierre Gasly the other driver in the top 10 for Alpine.
Full 2025 Australian Grand Prix qualifying result
- Lando Norris – McLaren
- Oscar Piastri – McLaren
- Max Verstappen – Red Bull
- George Russell – Mercedes
- Yuki Tsunoda – Racing Bulls
- Alex Albon – Williams
- Charles Leclerc – Ferrari
- Lewis Hamilton – Ferrari
- Pierre Gasly – Alpine
- Carlos Sainz – Williams
- Isack Hadjar – Racing Bulls
- Fernando Alonso – Aston Martin
- Lance Stroll – Aston Martin
- Jack Doohan – Alpine
- Gabriel Bortoleto – Sauber
- Kimi Antonelli – Mercedes
- Nico Hulkenberg – Sauber
- Liam Lawson – Red Bull
- Esteban Ocon – Haas
- Oliver Bearman – Haas